The List: 10 (or 12) New Jersey Buildings That Really Reach for the Sky

Since the 1990s the Garden State's buildings have been on a growth spurt

While Manhattan’s skyscrapers to the east dwarf New Jersey's, the Garden State has been growing its buildings taller and taller with each decade. Newark’s office buildings used to be the highest in the state, but that changed in the 1990s, with the construction of towers in Jersey City and taller casino-hotels in Atlantic City. Today, Newark’s highest peak -- 466 feet atop the National Newark Building -- doesn’t even make the top 10 list. Here’s what does (and while the top of the list is undisputed, it gets dicey toward the bottom):

1. 30 Hudson Street/Goldman Sachs Tower, Jersey City

Built in 2004, its 781 feet skyrocketed this building easily to the top of the list. With 42 floors of mostly offices, this tower ranks 54th in the United States and 176th in the world, at least right now. It was designed by Cesar Pelli, who also did the Petrona Towers in Kuala Lampur, which are the tallest twin buildings in the world.

2. Revel Resort, Atlantic City

Opened last year, this 710-foot tall hotel and casino is Atlantic City’s tallest but still No. 2 in the state. Located on the boardwalk, Revel has 47 stories and is the second-highest casino in the country. Granted $261 million in tax breaks from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Revel has not fared well and declared bankruptcy 10 months after opening. The casino has emerged from Chapter 11 and is retooling to try to boost business.

3. 101 Hudson Street/Merrill Lynch Building, Jersey City

This office building along Jersey’s Gold Coast stretches 548 feet into the sky and has 42 stories. It is the top non-glass tower on the list. In addition to businessmen, it is home to one of the state’s 26 pairs of nesting peregrine falcons.

4. Trump Plaza Residences, Jersey City

This 532-foot-high building may be only the fourth tallest in the state, but it ranks No. 1 for residential buildings in New Jersey. It has 55 floors, 455 units, and great views of the New York skyline. A second building was planned for 484 feet, but reportedly was the subject of foreclosure proceedings.

5. Newport Tower, Jersey City

Also downtown, at 525 Washington Boulevard, Newport missed 4th place by just one foot. It has 37 stories and is connected to a regional shopping center. Newport Tower ranked tallest for two years, 1990-1992, until the Merrill Lynch Building was completed.

6. Harrah’s Waterfront Tower, Atlantic City

The first casino resort built in the marina district in 1980, Harrah’s renovated in the past decade, building this tower that rises 525 feet and has 44 floors. On its completion in 2008, the tower was the tallest building in Atlantic City until Revel opened.

7. and 8. 70 Greene Street and 77 Hudson Street, Jersey City

These two glass towers are part of the Hudson Greene complex downtown. Each is 500 feet tall and has 48 floors. One tower has primarily condominiums, while the other has apartments. Combined, the complex has 420 residences and 19,000-square-feet of retail space.

9. Exchange Place Centre, Jersey City

The ranking of this blue glass building, part of Harborside Financial Center, at 9th tallest, instead of 7th, is because Emporis, a leading source of data on buildings, lists its official height at 490 feet, which is its architectural height. Its tip adds 25 feet. But Skyscraperpage.com includes the height of its spire and considers a 515-foot tall Exchange Place Center to be taller than the Hudson Greene complex.

10. Harborside Plaza 5, Jersey City

The modern glass building, which is also part of the Harborside Financial Center, finishes off the list using measurements that Emporis considers to be “official.” It reaches 480 feet into the Jersey City Gold Coast skyline.

However, Skyscraperpage.com lists two other Jersey City buildings, Monaco South and Monaco North, on its list of tallest buildings. Located on Washington Boulevard, these residences are 48 stories high, according to the website of SLCE Architects, which designed them. Skyscraperpage, which includes them on its list as the fifth- and sixth-tallest completed buildings in Jersey City, does not provide height for them in feet. Emporis does, but only has an estimate: 499.45 feet, which would put them at No. 9 and No. 10 were those measurements certain.